Repeating Hogwarts, Repeating Love
by Midnight Felicis
Summary: Hermione is nervous to be returning to Hogwarts to repeat her 7th year without Harry and Ron. During the summer, she and Ron have broken up, Hermione is named Head Girl and a strange encounter with Draco Malfoy has her confused. Post-War, EWE
1. The First Step

**Hi this is my first story so it may not be the best.. Please review :D**

**Note: Fred, Tonks, Lupin, Colin, Hedwig and Dobby have not died :D Just because it's my FanFic and I can make it like this :D (Some of them don't even appear in this story but I just like to think that their still alive)**

**Disclaimer: The characters, places ect. belong to JK Rowling not me blah blah blah, you get it.**

**Anyway, here it is!**

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The First Step

"What do you mean you two aren't gonna date? Is Ickle Ronniekins not a good enough boyfriend?"

"Shut up George or I'll chop your other ear off!" snapped Ron.

Everyone at the Burrow was shocked, Hermione and Ron were meant to be, why were they breaking up?

"Look, no offense, but it really isn't any of your business. We only told all of you this because it's our way of...um... confirming it" said Hermione. She knew they would be surprised but really, why did George have to be so nosy?

"Confirming it?" snorted Fred, "this is how you confirm it? I think you just want to let the rest of us know you're single Hermione" Fred gave Hermione a little wink.

"FREDRICK GIDEON WEALSLEY!" shouted Mrs Weasley

"Sorry mum" said a grinning Fred

"Look now that we, ummm, cleared the air, why don't we all go back to what we were doing?" Mr Weasley said, trying to calm the tension

"What a wonderful idea Arthur" replied Mrs Weasley.

Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Harry made their way upstairs as everyone else went about their business. Hermione knew that as soon as they got to Ron's room, there would be questions.

And, of course, she was right.

As soon as Ron shut the door, both Harry and Ginny asked "Why did you two break up?"

"The truth is, we both had feelings for each other at one point but they were gone by the time the War started. At least you two loved each before the full seriousness of the War came about. But Ron and I are a different story, I think we got scared and immediately jumped to the conclusion that we were in love. But we aren't, we love each more like brother and sister" explained Hermione.

"Yeah, what she said" Ron added meekly

"Well I'm glad you two sorted it out before Hogwarts started" said Ginny

"Yeah but I kinda wished you would have realised this earlier, it would have saved some drama" said Harry as Ron's ears went red.

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**One week before the return to Hogwarts**

"I GOT HEAD GIRL!" shouted Hermione when she opened her letter

"Congratulations Hermione!" chimed Ginny, Harry and Ron

"Thank Merlin she got the position after us two left Hogwarts or else we would have been driven bloody crazy by the end of the year" muttered Ron but only loud enough for only him and Harry to hear

"We all knew you would get it Hermione. Does it say who the Head Boy is?" asked Ginny

"No it doesn't" answered Hermione as she skimmed the letter. "Oh we really need to go to Diagon Alley soon; we need to buy our books! And I have to buy new stationary and new robes and a few light reading books and-"

"Hermione calm down" laughed Harry

"I'll ask mum when we can go" Ginny said as she left the room.

"Wow you must be so happy Hermione" said Harry

"I am but... I don't know. It's weird going back to school, especially without you two. And I don't know how to get back to it. After last year, how is it going to be? And... Well becoming Head Girl draws more attention to me than I would have already had."

"You worry too-"

Ron was cut off by a shriek down stairs.

Everyone ran down to the kitchen and found the source of the noise to be Ginny, who was standing holding a letter

"Ginny what's the matter?" asked Harry.

"I just got named Quidditch Captain! Can you believe it? Quidditch Captain! Me!" Ginny squealed with excitement

"Oh what a lovely day, Hermione Head Girl and Ginny Quidditch Captain! Oh, I'll treat you both when we go to Diagon Alley the day after tomorrow" exclaimed Mrs Weasley

"Really Mrs Weasley that won't be ne-"

"Nonsense Hermione, I insist. Oh I'm so proud" said Mrs Weasley with a little squeal of her own.

"Why do girls have to be so bloody vocal?" muttered Ron.

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**At Diagon Alley**

"I think we have everything, why don't we go get some food from the Leaky Cauldron?" asked Mrs Weasley

"Uh, I wanted to get some reading books. Why don't you and Ginny go and I'll join you after I get them?" asked Hermione

"Of course dear! Just don't take too long" replied Mrs Weasley.

Hermione made her way to Flourish and Blotts, eager to get new books. Just as she got outside the shop, someone stepped in her path. Looking up she realised it was Draco Malfoy

"What do you want Malfoy?"

"To not have to see you every time I go near books"

Hermione was about to retort when she saw that his smirk was somehow different. It seemed more playful and didn't resemble his sneer as much as it usually did

"Have my devilishly handsome looks rendered you speechless Granger?"

"No Malfoy, but looking at your face makes me feel nauseous and I didn't want to know what would happen if I opened my mouth"

"Ouch, that hurt Granger. I wouldn't expect something like that to come from you."

"Come off it Malfoy; you know you have that effect on everyone. Now, if you will excuse me, I have things to do."

"Granger wait! I, uh, wanted to say that I, uh,"

"Just spit it out Malfoy"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for teasing you and everything else over the years. I'm sorry for everything that happened in the War and... I _am_ grateful to Pott-err _Harry_ for helping my family."

"Did you just... apologise? Why?"

"The War... it...changed me"

There was an awkward pause between them

"I have to go, I don't wanna be seen with filth" Draco playfully said with a wink and left.

It took Hermione to register his insult and was about to retort. But when she turned around to look for him, she couldn't find him in the crowd.

Going into Flourish and Blotts she felt confused and angry.

Confused because Malfoy seemed different and what he said caught her off guard.

The reason for her anger was easy enough to detect. But the way Malfoy said it, it had been... playful?

Shaking her head she decided that worrying about it would do nothing.

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**Yup that's the first chapter, please review :D**

**So here is the story with this: I wrote this a few years ago and then a lot of things happened in my life which put me in a dark place and I stopped writing. I originally had 30 chapters planned but due to those events, only 7 of those had been written. I decided to publish it (not doing all the stuff I had planned) anyway because where it final chapter ends is actually a good place. I want to see what people think of this because I really loved writing it all those years ago.**

**Anyway, I thought you might want to know that bit of background.**

**Please review :)**


	2. Relating

**Here is chapter two! :D**

**Disclaimer: The characters, places ect. belong to JK Rowling not me blah blah blah, you get it.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter and please review**

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Relating

"Hermione? Hello? Are you listening to me?"

"Huh? Sorry Ginny. What were you saying" asked a dazed Hermione

"I said we need to go through to the platform" replied Ginny

"Oh right" and with that Hermione carefully and discreetly sunk through the barrier.

A few seconds later Ginny joined her on the other side. But of this, Hermione took no notice.

All she could think about was how lonely this year would be.

Sure she had Ginny, but Ginny spent last year sheltered away and wouldn't understand how she felt. Even before last year, Ginny hadn't gone through half the things she, Harry and Ron went through. That was the problem; she always had her two best friends with her. They went through so much that not many students went through but this year it was different.

She was alone.

Hermione and Ginny got onto the train and looked for an empty compartment. As they made their way through the train, they heard gasps and people whispering to each other

"Look its _Hermione Granger_"

"She helped defeat You-Know-Who"

"She was on the run with Harry Potter"

"I heard she and Ron Weasleybroke up!"

Hermione sighed; this was going to be a tough year.

Finally, she and Ginny found a compartment with only Luna inside

"Hi Luna" Ginny greeted her

"Hello Ginny, hello Hermione. Hermione, are you ok? You look like Nargles have gotten you"

"Eh, I'm fine Luna. I'm just thinking about... Head Girl duties. Speaking of which, I have to go to the Heads carriage"

"Oh and find out who the Head Boy is! You have to tell me Hermione!"

"I will Ginny. I hope it's someone good, after all, I will be sharing a Common Room with them"

And with that Hermione set off to the front of the train.

When Hermione finally reached her destination, she mentally prepared herself.

This was a big deal.

This was the person who she would be living with and working closely with for a whole year.

She opened the door and stepped inside

"Malfoy!" Hermione exclaimed

"Granger" Draco replied calmly

"You're Head Boy?"

"Obviously yes"

"Oh this is great. Why me? What did I do?" Hermione remarked in a bitter tone.

Draco didn't know why, but the last comment sent a pang of sadness through him.

"Well, I, unlike you, knew this would happen" Draco said.

"Why didn't you tell me at Diagon Alley?"

"I thought you would be smart enough to know" Draco judged by the look on Hermione's face that she _wasn't _smart enough to even figure it out, let alone know.

"McGonagall wants to keep me away from the other students; apparently everyone isn't as forgiving as her and Potter"

"So this is for _your _safety?" Hermione asked uncertainly

"Yes Granger, _my _safety. Honestly, how do you get such high marks? The professors don't spend nearly as much time explaining as I am" Malfoy sneered, sounding more like his old self than he had since 5th year

"What is your problem you stupid ferret? I have been through enough and I don't want to deal with you too!"

That was the final straw for Draco

"You think I haven't been through a lot? I had to live with the Dark Lord! Do you know what it's like to be treated as if you don't matter, you are just a puppet? I had to live in constant fear that I would do something wrong and _he _would kill me. I had to do horrible things, he forced me to do everything, and he threatened to hurt my parents. I can't bear to look in the mirror because of what I have become, a monster like him. I tortured people; I had to carry dead bodies away. Thankfully he didn't have me kill anyone but I'm sure he was getting to that. The Dark Lord would kill Death Eaters for two reasons: when someone was no longer useful or just for entertainment! Anyone could be next! And the most likely candidate was a Malfoy. So don't you pretend that you have been through more than me! We BOTH have been through hell and you parading around like you deserve special treatment is just irritating" Draco finished and started breathing deeply.

Draco had not even realised he had stood up. He sat back down, leaned back and closed his eyes.

All Hermione could think about was the realisation that Draco was probably one of the few people that she could relate to.

She never knew he had been so...tortured.

She thought back to the day in Diagon Alley when they ran into each other. His demeanour was different to how he was before, and now she understood why.

Carefully she assessed Draco. His skin was pale, paler than in 6th year, his hair was messy and he had shadows under his eyes, not unlike the ones she had under her eyes.

With a shock she realised that he would probably have them for the same reason as her

"Ma-Draco?" Hermione asked, her tone filled with caution.

Draco's head snapped up and his eyes shot open when he heard Hermione use his first name

"What did you just call me?"

"I called you Draco"

"Uh, why?"

"Well, I was under the impression that that was your name"

"Uh right." He cleared his throat "yes?"

"I wanted to ask you something"

"Sure thing Granger" just because she was going to use his first name, didn't mean he would use hers

"You have shadows under your eyes-"

"That's not a question"

"I _know _that, let me finish. I was wondering why"

"I have... trouble sleeping"

"Me too" Hermione replied "Ever since the War, I get nightmares and-"

"relive the worst memories of it?"

"Yes"

They fell into a silence. It was odd, they were supposed to be enemies but both of them did have something in common. They both had been at the very front of the War and both were lonely

"Hermione?"

Hermione jumped at the sound of her name "Yes Draco?"

"What was it like for you?"

And they spent the rest of the journey (4 and a half hours) discussing how it was like for both of them in the War.

For Draco, it was the first time talking about it.

For Hermione, it was different. With Harry and Ron, they went through almost the same things, and with everyone else their age, they just didn't get it.

But with Draco, their experiences were different and but at the same time the same, so he understood her.

When the train finally pulled into Hogsmeade, they had formed a sort of... bond.

They exited the train and went their separate ways, Hermione to find Ginny and Draco to find an empty carriage.

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**Hope you liked it. Remember to review! :D**

**Btw just so we're all clear, this story is not an incredible piece of writing that is completely new and unknown and that is written amazingly. I wrote this when I was 11 years old and being 16 now, I know it's not very good. But with that being said, I put a lot of work into it all those years ago and I felt I owed it to my younger self not to let that all go to waste. I've read some really amazing fanfiction here that I could not hold a candle to now, and especially not 5 years ago. So please be nice with the reviews. This is just a cliche, fluffy typical Dramione story and I am not going to pretend that it's any better than it is.**


	3. Eyes

**Here is Chapter 3, I hope you like it. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and places, they belong to JK Rowling**

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Eyes

Hermione quickly found Luna and Ginny and the three of them got into a carriage together

"So Hermione?" asked Ginny

"What?" asked Hermione confused

"Whose Head Boy?" asked Ginny in a stating-the-obvious voice

"Draco" Hermione replied and quickly added "Malfoy"

"What? How did the ferret get Head Boy?" asked Ginny, her tone filled with shock

"Well McGonagall thinks it is better if he... stays away from other students. I can see where she is coming from, not many people will be nice to an ex Death Eater"

"I guess..." was Ginny's response

"Well I'm sure spending this year with him will be good for you, just a train ride with him and you look better" Luna stated in her sing-song voice

"What?" asked both Hermione and Ginny

"Well before you looked so stressed and nervous and just filled with negativity. And now you seem much better, it is obvious it has something to do with the new Head Boy" Luna said in her dreamy but at the same time matter-of-fact voice.

No one spoke.

Ginny knew that Luna's observations were always correct, usually something that is obvious but people are either too blind to see it, or don't like to be bluntly honest.

In short, Luna was onto something.

As they entered the Great Hall, Ginny and Hermione said goodbye to Luna and made their way to the Gryffindor table, while Luna went to the Ravenclaw table.

Sitting down, Hermione looked around.

The castle had been re-built easily as, before his death, Dumbledore had cast a complex spell that would restore Hogwarts to its original state, if it were to be destroyed. The spell he cast showed the true power of him, his spell lasted beyond his death.

Hermione scanned the Hall feeling better at the familiarity of it.

She looked around for familiar faces from her year. At the end of the War everyone was offered the choice to repeat the year that they were in last year. No one from the lower classes accepted the offer but quite a number of students in Hermione's year accepted. There were some that, like Harry and Ron, decided to go straight to working.

The 5th and 7th years were offered the choice at the end of the summer to take the O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s. All the 5th years agreed but only a handful of 7th years did, most of them had gone to Hogwarts last year. The ones that did return were the one that had either fled the country until it was safe or had been under too much stress to take the exams. The familiar faces also helped Hermione; they made Hogwarts feel more like Hogwarts. She kept glancing around the room taking everything in.

Then Hermione's eyes rested on Draco.

He sat by himself at the end of the Slytherin table, glaring at Blaise Zabini for trying to sit next to him. Zabini got the hint and moved away.

Just then, Draco looked up and caught Hermione's eye. For some reason, she couldn't look away.

On the train, every time they had eye contact, she would shed away. But this time she didn't.

She heard McGonagall announce that the Sorting will begin but still she didn't look away, neither did Draco. His eyes were a grey-blue colour and didn't show any emotion.

But for some reason, she was captured by them.

Draco glared at Blaise, stupid git, trying to sit with him; he just wanted to be alone.

Draco felt a pair of eyes on him and looked up to find the eyes belonged to none other than Hermione Granger. He caught her eyes and just stared.

Her eyes were a warm brown and were filled with curiosity. Draco knew how to control his emotions, as long as they weren't too strong, and kept a blank expression.

Looking into her eyes calmed him and, for some reason, he was captured by them.

Hermione heard McGonagall stand up and begin giving her notices. Through the Sorting she hadn't broken eye contact with Draco.

Finally McGonagall said "I would like to congratulate our new Head Boy and Girl, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy"

With that, both of them broke the eye contact and stood up. There was an uproar of applause, mostly for Hermione.

As Hermione and Draco sat back down, neither of them looked in the others direction.

Hermione ate the feast chatting only a little to Ginny and about half an hour before the feast was to end, all Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl made their way into a chamber with McGonagall.

She explained their duties in a quick 10 minutes and then asked the Head Boy and Girl to stay behind

"Now I want both of you on your best behaviour, I hope the War has taught you both that inter-house relationships are important. Now your specific duties are that you must manage the prefects, make sure everything runs smoothly and you should also find ways to help the younger students. Not only that but you must come up and help with some activities and events to help untie the school. What I did just now with the prefects is what you two will be doing from this point onward. You will need to work well and cooperate and I expect nothing less than that"

"Yes Headmistress, I assure you that Draco and I have set aside our differences and I am sure we will work well together. Isn't that right Draco?" Hermione said

"Yes Granger" Draco replied in a bored voice

McGonagall looked a bit taken aback at the fact Hermione used his first name, even though Draco didn't use hers.

"Well it's a start. You may return to what is left of the feast and at the end, I will escort you two to the Heads' Common Room."

They both nodded and went back to the Hall.

McGonagall lead them up to the second floor and took them down a few hallways, then came to a halt in front of a portrait of a little boy. "Password?" he asked

"Harry Potter" replied McGonagall.

Draco snorted and Hermione couldn't suppress a little giggle.

The portrait swung open to reveal the Common Room.

The room was large and decorated with the house colours. To the right was a grand fireplace and couches surrounded it in a semi-circle. To the left were two desks up against the wall and a large table that was placed a couple of metres away. Straight ahead was a stair case that had three doors leading off it, one straight ahead and two off to each side.

"The door that is straight ahead leads to the bathroom, the door to the right leads to Miss Granger's room and the door to the left to Mr Malfoy's room. Your trunks have been taken up to your rooms; I think you will find everything you need. Goodnight"

"Goodnight Headmistress" they said as she left

"Wow, this is amazing" said Hermione

"I've seen better" replied Draco.

Hermione faced him and was about to have a go at him when she realised he was just kidding

"Well I'm going to go to look at my room"

"Good to know Granger" was Draco's response.

Hermione's room was a little bigger than the room she had before and was furnished with red and gold furniture. The first thing that caught Hermione's eye was the big, comfortable bed that was up against the wall opposite to the window. The room also had a closet, a desk and a bookcase. It was the perfect room for a Head Girl.

Returning to the Common Room, Hermione found Draco sitting in front of the fire with his head in his hands

"Draco? Are you ok?" Hermione asked attentively.

Draco thought for a moment, got up and said "I'm not sure". And with that, he went to his room.

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**Random Note: I am obsessed with the quote 'The eyes are the windows to the soul' and I totally believe it. That's sort of why I did the eye contact thing.**

**Remember to review!**


	4. Revenge

**Hey, here is chapter 4.**

**Remember to review!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling, I don't the characters, places and some of the background.**

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Revenge

The next morning Hermione woke up and found Draco in the bathroom

"Malfoy? Are you going to be long?" she asked, knocking on the door.

Draco opened the door and said "Look Granger, I need time to do my hair. I know you might not understand, but having good hair is important and it takes time" and shut the door.

With that Hermione couldn't suppress her laugh. She had never heard something so vain from anyone, including the girls she shared a room with before.

Once her laughter subsided, she realised she needed to take a shower and get dressed soon if she wanted to eat breakfast and get to class in time.

Again she began knocking furiously

"What Granger?" Malfoy asked, opening the door again

"I need to take a shower and get ready"

"And?"

"I need the bathroom and you are in it. So you need to get out"

Draco faked a thoughtful look, said "you should have gotten up earlier" and slammed the door.

Hermione was fuming.

All she could think about was how late she was going to be if she didn't take a shower soon. She knew that she wouldn't be able to reason with him and couldn't think of a way to nicely get into the bathroom. Then she got an idea, she ran into her room and got her wand. She mumbled two spells and waited by the door.

She was rewarded with a girlish scream from the bathroom a few seconds later. Malfoy open the door and looked murderous

"What. Did. You. Do. To. My. Hair!" he said through gritted teeth

"What? Don't think pink is your colour? Oh well" Hermione said with a Malfoy-like smirk on her face.

The first spell she cast was to turn Malfoy's precious hair pink and the second one kept it that way for 24 hours. She had seen the indications on some of Fred and George's Weasleys' Wizard Wheeze's products during the summer

"Granger, fix it now" Draco demanded

"No" Hermione said simply.

This was her revenge for him keeping her from being early, she could have easily got him out and changed his hair back after he gave her the bathroom, but she liked this plan better. She ran down the stairs and he chased her, exactly what she wanted. She ran to the other side of the room but stopped three quarters of the way, then turned around, ran up the stairs, into the bathroom and locked the door.

Then she simply summoned her clothes through the window and took a shower.

Draco stood outside the bathroom, he was very mad. Finally Hermione opened the door and got out of the bathroom

"Granger, fix my hair"

"I can't"

"What do you mean you can't, I don't fancy walking around school with pink hair. Fix it."

"It's stuck like that for 24 hours" Hermione said with a smirk.

Draco stood there furious. He then walked into his room and gathered his things. He returned to find Hermione down at the bottom of the stairs with a gloating smile on her face

"Granger, trust me, I will get you back for this" he told her with a glaring look. He then mumbled to himself "this day just got more interesting"

Hermione made her way down to breakfast cheerfully, she wasn't scared of Draco.

Even though he was a Death Eater during the War, after their talk on the train, she knew he wouldn't physically hurt her. All he would fight with was practical jokes and lucky for Hermione, she could call on some twins that are the masters of pranking.

She made her way to Ginny and sat down

"Hey Hermione, so you survived a night with Malfoy. How did you sleep?" Ginny asked her question with concern.

Suddenly Hermione realised that for the first time since the War began, Hermione had slept through the night. With the Malfoy incident in the morning, she hadn't realised. She guessed it probably had something to do with the train ride

"Actually Ginny, I slept through the night"

"Really? That's good" Ginny replied, sounding relieved.

Hermione had spent the summer at the Burrow and shared Ginny's room. She woke up every night screaming, crying or something like tha.t

"Merlin's beard, what happened to Malfoy's hair?" Ginny asked.

Hermione turned to the entrance and saw Malfoy come in, pink hair and all. When they made eye contact she smirked and he glared at her

"Did _you _do that Hermione?" Ginny asked incredulously

"Yes I did, I remembered the indications on one of Fred and George's products and used them on Malfoy"

"Wow. I never thought that would happen. I have to write to Fred, George, Harry and Ron, they would kill me if I didn't tell them"

When Hermione looked over to the Slytherin table, she saw Draco glaring at anyone staring in his direction or trying to sit near him.

On her way to Potions, Hermione had to keep stopping to tell off students for a number of things.

As a result, she arrived just as Slughorn arrived too and there were only three seats free, all next to Draco. She walked up to him and he gestured for her to sit down and, since she had no choice, she did.

This was one of the times where she felt really upset about no longer having Ron or Harry to save her a seat or share a table with.

Slughorn began by telling the class that this lesson will be informing them of what they are going to do this year, and he advised them to take notes. Naturally, Hermione had her parchment and quill out already. To her surprise, Draco also started writing notes as Slughorn wrote them on the board and explained them.

After a while Draco tapped her shoulder and she looked over, he gestured to his parchment. Hermione was mistaken, he wasn't taking notes he was writing Slughorn insults. As Hermione read them, she found a particularly funny one and accidentally laughed out loud. Slughorn came over to their desk.

This was all going as Draco planned and he swiftly vanished the paper. He then transfigured Hermione's paper and waited as Slughorn snatched it up. Reading it, his face went red with fury

"Ms Granger, I am appalled that you would write this"

Hermione was confused, it was only her notes – or so she thought. Looking at the piece of paper she saw smart-alec responses to what Slughorn was saying when they were taking notes

"Professor I-"

"Save it. Detention, tonight 5:30, my office"

Hermione was shocked and furious. She looked over at Draco and knew he had done this. She wouldn't let him get away with this.

She quickly transfigured Draco's paper to what he had written before and quickly cast a charm to make sure he couldn't change it. Then she kicked him and caused him to jump in his seat. Slughorn saw the disturbance and once again made his way over to their table.

This time he was even more angry and said "you can join Ms Granger in detention Mr Malfoy"

Slughorn continued in class and at the end released everyone. As they left, he reminded Hermione and Draco of their detention.

They glared at each other as they left.

Hermione went straight to her next class, advance transfiguration. She had been ecstatic in the summer, when McGonagall had told her that several students had been chosen for the class, and she was one of them.

Unfortunately for her, so was Draco.

Draco sat next to her in Transfiguration but didn't bother her other then glaring at her.

He was really peeved at her.

First, she turned his hair pink, and then she got him detention. He knew that trying to get revenge had backfired and wasn't going to risk it again, especially with McGonagall as the teacher.

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**Now click the link and review :D**

**Also remember this is NOT a complex, original story with amazing character development and complete realism. It's just another fluffy, cliche Dramione story and that's what I want it to be :) **


	5. Detention

**Chapter número cinco!**

**Yay! Things get really good here :D**

**Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling, I don't the characters, places and some of the background.**

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Detention

During lunch, Hermione went straight to the library. Since she knew she had detention, she had to finish as much as her homework as possible.

The rest of her classes, Herbology, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy went without incident.

During dinner, Hermione sat next to Ginny, said nothing and started eating.

"What's wrong Hermione?" Ginny asked

"Draco stupid-git-ferret Malfoy. That's what's wrong!"

"Why? What happened?"

Hermione explained what happened in Potions to Ginny

"And now I have detention with him tonight!" Hermione finished infuriated

"Well, maybe it won't be bad. I mean, remember the train? You seemed to have survived him just fine then, maybe you'll be fine this time too" Ginny suggested

"I guess" Hermione said in an uncertain tone. The more she thought about it, the more she realised that the detention would not be as bad as she thought.

She rose from her seat, said goodbye to Ginny and headed towards the exit of the Great Hall. When she reached the double doors, Draco was waiting for her.

They silently walked down to the dungeons, not even acknowledging each other.

When they reached Slughorn's office, Draco opened the door and held it for her. She walked through with a quizzical expression.

Slughorn was sitting at his desk and gestured Hermione and Draco to sit down

"Would you two care to explain to me how _both_ the Head Boy and Girl were misbehaving in such a manner during class, that they got detention on the first day of school?"

Draco knew that Hermione hated him right now; it was his fault this happened after all. But he didn't want her to be mad at him; she was the only person that made him feel alive after so long. He had been a zombie for a really long time and now that was changing, because of her. He needed her to forgive him, and he knew what he had to do

"Professor, it was my entire fault. I transfigured Hermione's paper to say all those things."

Hermione was shocked.

This didn't seem like something Draco would do. But then she thought about it, of course, he wanted to get the blame and then she would be in his debt. Well she was certainly not going to let the happen

"Draco isn't entirely at fault, I transfigured his paper too-"

"To what I had written on it before, I showed her those that's what made her laugh. Then I transfigured her paper and got her in trouble-"

"He only did that because I dyed his hair pink in the morning-"

"Because I was rude and wouldn't let her use the shower-"

"Why are you taking the blame for this?"

"Why are you?"

"ENOUGH" shouted Slughorn.

Draco couldn't understand why Hermione wouldn't let him just take the blame

"Now" Slughorn said in a weary voice "it seems obvious that this whole problem was the fact that you two cannot cooperate. So, as a result, your detention shall teach you two to get along." I hope he added in his head

"You two will brew a potion for me which I will need it for a class in two weeks time. It only takes a few hours to make but if you can't work together, you won't get it right. I know that you two can do this; you are the top two in the year. If I have to, I will make you redo it every night."

Slughorn showed them to the potions classroom. There he set everything out, put the instructions on the board and left. Draco and Hermione worked in silence for a long time. Finally the potion had to rest for two hours before they needed to add the final ingredients.

They sat in silence until Draco broke it

"Why wouldn't you let me take the blame Granger?"

"Why did you want to take the blame Malfoy?" Hermione retorted

"Because I didn't want you to hate me" Draco admitted to her.

Hermione was shocked and so was Draco, both couldn't believe he just admitted that out loud

Hermione quickly covered her shock, hissing at him "you didn't seem to mind all these years"

"Really Granger? We are back to that?"

"Back to what?"

"I am a different person to who I was before the War, I thought you finally understood that on the train"

Hermione was surprised, Draco _was _right

"I'm sorry Draco. I guess I still can't get my head around the fact that you are different. It's not only that, it's also because during the War I couldn't trust many people, everyone had an ulterior motive"

Hermione bit her tongue, she hadn't meant for the last sentence to come out

"I understand. I guess we made a complete circle. From being mad each other to talking about the War again, just like the train"

Hermione realised the truth in Draco's words and realised that she _wanted _to talk about it. Usually when someone asked her about it, she avoided it but with Draco, _she_ brings it up.

Almost as if he could read her thoughts, he asked her "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yes" she admitted

"What do you want to talk about?" Draco asked

"I don't know"

"That's a first, Hermione Granger doesn't know the answer to a question" Draco teased her.

Hermione glared at him but he just laughed. She found his laugh fascinating; she had never heard Draco truly laugh before. For the second time in two days, Hermione found herself analysing Draco.

When he laughed, his eyes sparkled. They didn't hold the cold and emotionless look they usually had; they looked warm and full of life. Hermione had to admit to herself that Draco was actually attractive

"Granger, didn't your parents teach you that it was rude to stare?" Draco asked in an overconfident tone. But inside, his heart was pounding; Hermione had a strange effect on him

"They did, didn't your parents teach you how to be modest?" Hermione retorted.

At the mention of his parents, all traces of laughter left Draco's face

"Hermione, you seem to have forgotten who my father is. My father doesn't know what modesty is, and if he did, it wouldn't go in his lesson plans."

Hermione noted the bitterness in his tone and wondered why it was there

"Draco? What-What happened to your father?" Hermione was scared of what his reaction would be

"Life sentence in Azkaban, I'm happy to finally get away from him"

"What about your mother?"

Draco mentally debated with himself what to say. He wanted to say everything but didn't know he should. Finally he decided.

"My mother saved Potter's life, which saved her from a life in Azkaban. And she never was or wanted to be a Death Eater and she was never marked. She believed in the Dark Lord's cause but didn't like what he was doing. But my father did and he wouldn't hear a word against the Dark Lord. My mother and father were in love when they married, but I think my mother started falling out of love with my father when he joined the Death Eaters. Then when the Dark Lord fell my father changed. He became harsher and the only love in our house was the love my mother and I shared. Even when the Dark Lord came back, it didn't get better, it just got worse. My mother was afraid of my father and acted the way she did because that was the only way to protect herself and me. Even now he is in Azkaban, she is still scared. My father was and still is a monster but, despite what many believe, my mother wasn't, isn't and never will be like him" Draco finished. For the second time that very day, he couldn't believe how much he had revealed without meaning to. Hermione looked at him with pity

"Hermione, what about your parents?" Draco said wanting to switch the focus from him.

Hermione was nervous about her reply. Draco had shared so much, she knew she owed it to him to do the same

"When Harry, Ron and I set off to look for the Horcruxes, I was scared that Voldemort" Draco flinched at the name "would get my parents. I love them more than anything and the thought of him anywhere near them, made me physically ill. So I cast memory charms to make them forget me and believe they were different and wanted to move to Australia. Over the summer I went there and lifted the charms, it was difficult and I actually spent two days trying before I could fix them. They were mad but they still wanted to move back, but it was difficult. It seems that they won't be able to get everything back until next year. I spent the summer at the Burrow and my parents spent it setting up everything for them coming back. I won't be able to visit them and my old house till Christmas break. I'm happy that they are safe but-"

Hermione was about to voice a pain that she hadn't told anyone "-it was so hard when I went to them. They didn't recognise me, they didn't know me. It was so hard, my own parents forgot me"

They sat there in silence, Draco had no idea how to respond to that. After a while they realised they had to finish the potion, they gave it to professor Slughorn, who announced happily that they had done it correctly.

They made their way back to their Common Room. When they entered, Hermione decided something

"Draco?"

"Yes?"

"Can we talk?"

"Uhhh sure"

They both sat on the couch and Hermione turned to face him

"I think that the two of us could be friends"

"What are you playing at Granger?"

"I'm saying that we should try to get along"

"How in Merlin's name is that going to happen?"

"Well, you could try to be a bit nicer?"

"Nicer?"

"Yes Draco _nicer_"

"I guess, we could try..."

"Really?" Hermione thought he would object and she would have to convince him

"You sound shocked, if you didn't realise we just had a perfectly good detention that required us to get along" and I really want to get to know you better, he added to himself

"Good" Hermione was still shocked at how ready he was to comply with the truce

"But Granger you have to understand that I won't be completely nice. I will still be me"

"I guess that's fair"

"And you need to do something. You need to loosen up and have fun. Not just for me but for you too"

"I guess that wouldn't be too bad. But, like you will do, I will still be me. So don't expect me to do anything too out of line"

"I wouldn't expect any different."

He gave her a small smile and she finally voiced the question lingering at the back of her mind since the train ride.

"Draco, since we're trying to get along, can I ask you something? I don't want to insult but I can't really think of a nicer way to phrase this and well, it's been nagging me for a while."

Draco rolled his eyes at her rambling, deciphering that she wanted to ask him something. He simply raised his eyebrow as if encouraging her to ask her question.

She took a deep breath, hoping she wasn't ruining this friendship already, "How did you get Head Boy? I understand you're smart and they want to keep you safe but they could have just moved you to another dorm room. And... given your history, why would anyone think you should be in such a position of power?"

Draco gave Hermione a bitter smile, "I was wondering how long it would be until you brought that up again."

He sat back and continued, "I wasn't given a letter like you were. I had a personal visit and on that visit, I was told that this was the best course of action for everyone. I would be watched constantly by 'more trusted people'... even if they didn't know they were watching me"

At that he gave Hermione a pointed look.

"What? Oh wait... do you mean to tell me that _I'm_ one of those people watching you?" Hermione said, her voice filled with shock.

Draco let that bitter smile onto his face once more, "you're a third of the Golden Trio. Who better to not only protect a former Death Eater, but also to keep said former Death Eater from any funny business. You, Weasley and Potter have always been more aware than anyone, so they trusted that you would make sure I was safe and, more importantly, on the right side. This," Draco gestured to his badge, "happened to be the best way to make sure you could spend as much time near me as possible"

Hermione sat in silence, finally understanding. _She_ was the reason they made him Head Boy. Heck, she might even go as far as to say that she was the reason they let him back to Hogwarts, with her keeping an eye on him, they knew it was the best way to see if he was trustworthy or not.

"Well I promise I'll keep you safe," she finally said, "I know Dumbledore was big on second chances and I have a feeling his portrait had something to do with this, I wouldn't want to let his faith in me to be for nothing."

They both sat in silence for a minute until Draco finally decided to break it.

"Since you got to ask me a personal question, may I ask if you and Weasel broke up?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I just want to know why anyone would let you go" Draco cursed himself in his mind

"Yes we did break up but I really don't feel like talking about it. I don't think I can fall asleep unless we talk about something light-hearted for a change"

"I know just the thing" Draco ran up to his room and came down with a book about transfiguration, it also happened to be the book Hermione had intended to buy for a very long time. They spent the rest of the night going through the book and discussing topics in the book. At around 1 in the morning, Hermione finally dozed off.

Draco watch her for a while sleeping peacefully. He couldn't help but admire her, she was beautiful and smart and kind and strong and so much more. He knew from the way she talked about her parents that she was very close with them and he knew it really showed how amazing of a person she is by doing what she did for them.

Then he heard his own thoughts.

Suddenly everything made sense, he was falling for Hermione and the weirdest part was the fact that he didn't mind a bit.

He carefully lifted her into his arms and carried her up to her room. He lay her down and made sure she was warm.

As he straightened up, he couldn't help but notice that her room was exactly like his, the only differences being that she had photos that littered the room and the colours, which were Gryffindor as opposed to his Slytherin colours.

Glancing at her peaceful sleeping form one more time, he smiled; he really liked the idea of fancying Hermione Granger.

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**This was a really really long chapter compared to the others I've posted! I know things are moving pretty fast but please remember that this is a silly little fluff story written by my 11-year-old self! It isn't intended to have a complex plot line or character development or be realistic! If you want that, this is NOT the story for you! I've read some really amazing stories on here that mine doesn't compare to. But you know what? I also really enjoy reading fluff stories where things move fast and are weird and random and I love them :) I have received some negative feedback but I am still proud of this story because I know others have enjoyed it :)**

"**Imperio!" 'Go and review... Go and review...' :D**


	6. Blaise

**Here is chapter six! :D**

**Disclaimer: The characters, places ect. belong to JK Rowling not me blah blah blah, you get it.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter and please review**

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Blaise

The next morning Hermione woke comfortably in her bed. As the memories from the night before flooded back into her mind, she thought about how she got into her bed, when she clearly remembered falling asleep on one of the couches downstairs.

She wondered if Draco carried her, but quickly halted her thoughts. No. There was probably another explanation, even if she couldn't think of it.

Deciding that, she got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

Draco awoke to sounds of the shower. Looking at the wizarding clock on his table, he found that he had plenty of time until he had to begin with his morning rituals.

As he lay in bed he thought over the revelation that he came to the night before. He knew Hermione was single, but he also knew she was still very fragile from the war though she didn't act like it.

He knew he was the same as her.

Draco lay in bed, thinking about the most important question of all, was he really serious about her? The first answer in his mind was yes. He didn't know why, but he needed her and he hoped she needed him too.

He heard Hermione get out of the shower and realised that he needed to start getting ready. He would think about this more later, and, for now, he would just go with it.

Hermione stood in their Common Room, debating whether or not she should just leave. She knew they called a truce last night but she wasn't sure if walking to breakfast was a part of that. She also knew that she couldn't ask Draco about how she got from the couch into her bed because it might make things awkward.

As she thought these things, the panic in her decided that maybe it was better to go ahead without him.

But it was too late, because Draco was coming down the stairs.

Calming herself down, she gave Draco a small smile.

Draco then surprised her by not only returning her smile, but coupling it with a cheerful "good morning."

"Good morning. Uhhh, I was thinking we could go down to breakfast together and show the school how we can all unite" said Hermione shyly.

"Good idea" replied Draco "Plus the earlier they start considering getting along, the quicker they adapt to it and that means less issues with our uniting the houses through events and activities. And THAT makes us seem like the most amazing Heads ever to exist"

Hermione rolled her eyes but could stop the smile lifting up her lips. She turned away and led Draco through the portrait.

The previous fears she had about it being awkward were unfounded as the conversation flowed easily between the two while they walked.

"Here we are. Reaching the pivotal moment. The moment that shall go down in Hogwarts, A History. The moment a Gryffindor and a Slytherin, a member of the Golden Trio and an Ex-Death Eater, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy enter the Great Hall _together and getting along_"

Hermione laughed at Draco's dramatic commentary.

As they entered the Hall, it was as if someone had shined a spotlight on them.

Every single person turned to look at them in shock. It was as if Fred and George Weasley were professing their love for Umbridge right where Draco and Hermione were. Absolute disbelief.

Hermione and Draco acted as though it didn't faze them and separated, Draco going to the Slytherin table and Hermione to the Gryffindor.

As they sat, people began to turn back to their food and turn to their neighbour to gossip about what just occurred.

Ginny Weasley was no exception to this and as soon as she recovered, she turned to Hermione.

"So I'm guessing last night wasn't too bad?"

"It was actually pretty wonderful" Hermione said with a bright smile

Draco sat down at the Slytherin table, acting as though most of Hogwarts wasn't staring at him.

When the babble began, he looked up in time to see Blaise sit himself down opposite to Draco.

"So Drake, we don't talk since – what? Beginning of 6th year? And when I try to, you just give me one of your 'I'm going to kill you' glares. Then the next day you are getting all cosy with your arch enemy? What is going on with you man?"

"Ah Blaise, I missed your amazing observation skills" Draco replied sarcastically. "And that's EX enemy"

"Whatever dude, it's been too long and I miss my best friend" was Blaise's reply

"Well, keep missing him because he is gone" snapped Draco

Blaise's only reply was a soft "I mean the real Draco, my real best friend"

They lapsed into a silence that neither wanted to break until –

"Look Blaise, a lot has changed. I've changed but-"

"But you're still the same Drake, you're still the same. Just better. More wiser. But at the same time more like you used to be when it was just you and me" Blaise cut in.

Draco considered for a moment what to do. He knew Blaise was one of the neutral Slytherins, so he wouldn't have a problem with Draco's new emphasis on equality. They used to be best friends when they were younger and the reason they drifted apart was because of their differences when it came to blood purity.

And Draco knew that with the whole Hermione thing, he would Blaise just to keep himself sane.

"It's nice to have my best mate back" Draco said stretching his hand out to Blaise with a grin

"Same here" Blaise replied while shaking his hand.

At the end of breakfast Hermione and Draco met up at the doors and set off for their morning classes, first was Potions.

Draco and Hermione silently entered the room and took the seats they were in the previous day.

They kept on their best behaviour through the lesson, working hard and well as a team. At the end of the lesson Slughorn was going on and on about how his detention helped shape their dynamic team.

"Oh yes, we must never forget that his detention made us the bestest of friends. It's not like all we needed was a few minutes alone to call a truce. No, without his amazing walrus-problem-solving-skills, we would have never learnt to like each other! I swear that man doesn't let someone smile without taking credit!" Draco said while walking to Advance Transfiguration.

Hermione laughed at Draco's annoyance and that sound lit a smile on Draco's face.

Feeling bold, Draco told Hermione "You have a nice laugh you know"

"What?" Hermione wasn't sure heard right. Did Draco Malfoy just say she had a nice laugh?

"Yea, it sounds really... light and free" Draco's voice seemed to get quieter and he wasn't sure this was a good idea anymore.

At this point, the two finally reached the Transfiguration classroom and were luckily spared the awkward conversation.

But this cycle repeated through the lesson. Every time Draco got the courage, he would compliment Hermione. She would be shocked and disbelieving, he would further the compliment and would loose the courage he just gained.

Yup it was as constant a cycle as how Draco washes his hair; lather, rinse, and repeat. And never forgotten

At lunch Hermione sat with Ginny and Draco with Blaise again.

"I have a serious problem man, like an end of the world type problem" Draco told Blaise dramatically.

Blaise had known Draco for a very long time and in that time had realised that when it came to problems, Draco's ranking of importance was the opposite of what it really was. For example, when Draco had problems with the Death Eaters, he said it was nothing. But when he was incredibly bored, he said that it was the biggest problem since Pansy Parkinson's existence.

So, with that in mind, Blaise replied to Draco with a bored voice

"What is the big problem of which you speak of? Did Granger dye your hair pink again? Oh wait, no, I don't see any pink hair. Damn, it really suited you yesterday"

"Cut the sarcasm Blaise, this is important. I like Granger"

Blaise spat out his juice,

"I'm sorry, did you just say you like Granger? As in _Hermione _Granger?"

"How many Grangers at this school do you know Blaise? Of course Hermione Granger!"

"Ok, ok. So what's your problem?"

Draco threw a green apple at Blaise,

"What's my problem? I like Hermione Granger! As in Gryffindor's Golden Girl, the brains of the Golden Trio, the girl I tortured for 6 years!"

"Oh right. THAT problem. I know that. Well, didn't you two call a truce? And you apologised to her for everything too, right? That's what you said"

"Yea I did"

"So doesn't all that point to 'let's forget about the past?"

Draco face light up with realisation

"You're a genius Blaise! I don't know why I was so worried. All I have to do is use my Malfoy charm and then I'll have her!" and I'll never let her go, he added to himself

"You just don't mess with her, she can do worse than just die your hair pink again!" Blaise said laughing at the memory

"I wouldn't dream of it Blaise, I wouldn't dream of it"

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**What do you think? Please review**


	7. Finally

**Here is chapter seven! One I'm sure you will really enjoy! :D**

**Disclaimer: The characters, places ect. belong to JK Rowling not me blah blah blah, you get it.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

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Finally

This routine went on for 16 days.

Hermione would get up first, take a shower, wait for Draco and together they would walk to the Great Hall, laughing and joking.

They would be met by shocked stares and separate, Hermione to sit with Ginny at the Gryffindor Table and Draco with Blaise.

Hermione would enlighten Ginny about what Hermione and Draco did the previous night and Draco would talk to Blaise about the old days.

Then Draco and Hermione would set off together on their classes, sitting together and working.

At lunch they would walk together again, separate again. Hermione would talk to Ginny about how class, Draco, work, Draco, the old days, Draco, letters from the Weasleys or Harry and she would also mention Draco.

Draco, on the other hand, would vent his frustration at the fact that Hermione wasn't getting any of his hints.

At the end of lunch they would meet up, go to their afternoon classes and return to their Heads' Room to do homework.

They would spend a few hours of homework helping each other out and then would talk late into the night.

Hermione would fall asleep and Draco would carry her to her room.

This routine went on until 16 days later on September 19th; Draco decided he needed to break it.

It happened during his afternoon rant to Blaise.

"Blaise, I think something is seriously wrong with Granger. It's been 16 days and nothing! I compliment her, she doesn't believe it. I flirt with her, she seems immune to it. She just doesn't notice me in that way!"

"Draco calm down!" Blaise had never seen Draco like this over a girl, and he definitely never would imagine that the first time he would see him like this would be over Hermione know-it-all Granger.

"Look mate, do you really like her? Is she worth stressing over?"

Draco didn't even have to think, he knew the answer.

"Yes"

"Wow. I never thought I would ever see you admit a girl was worth any trouble"

"Yes well, it isn't any girl. It's an annoying, insufferable, opinionated, strong-willed, brave, intelligent, beautiful, ama-"

Blaise quickly cut in "Ok, I get it. Let's just save some time and describes her as unique?"

"Fine then" Draco huffed, though whether it was because he wanted to describe Hermione more or if he was embarrassed that he went on like a love sick fool, Blaise wasn't sure.

"Look," Draco went on, "was there a point to your interrogation? Or did you just want to distract me?"

"There was a point"

Draco waited for him to continue, "Well?"

"Well what?" Blaise said with a cheeky grin, he wondered how far he could push Draco

"What was the bloody point?"

"Ah well..." Blaise let his sentence drift off

"Blaise if you do not tell me, I will tell Granger that I used hear you moan McGonagall's name in your sleep" Draco threatened his friend with a smirk

Blaise quickly looked around nervously to make sure no one heard "Ok ok, you didn't need to bring that up! I was just going to say that if you really felt the way you do, maybe you should just tell her how you feel"

"Really Blaise? That is your point? The girl doesn't believe a compliment from me, let alone me telling her I really like her!"

"Then do something to prove it to her, something she can't say is fake. Also, I think she might not be oblivious as you think, she just might be unsure. You just have to convince her"

Draco was struck by a sudden idea, something that would not only prove his feelings to her, but also hopefully convince her too. It was a risk, but he was willing to take it.

"Say Blaise, I do have an idea for an extra birthday present for Granger..."

Over the course of those routine weeks, some things did actually change, but only in minor ways.

For one, slowly more and more people began accepting Draco Hermione's friendship, until it wasn't uncommon for them to be spotted together, in classes or hallways.

Another change was Hermione's feelings towards Draco.

At the beginning, she was certain she had no feelings for him. But as the days went on, she began to notice little things about him and little things he did would give her butterflies.

Yes, by the end of the first week, Hermione had fallen for Draco Malfoy. Problem was, she was still in denial and those feelings kept growing over the next one and two days.

That very same September 19th that Draco had been talking to Blaise about Hermione, Hermione had been talking to Ginny about Draco.

Ginny had listened to Hermione talk about Draco over those 16 days and she had figured out the obvious, Hermione liked Draco and that Hermione was denying it. More notably, she figured out Draco like Hermione too and that Hermione oblivious to that fact.

See, Ginny had known Hermione for a very long time and that was why she knew what was going on in Hermione's head. She knew that Hermione was only denying her feelings for Draco because she was scared of rejection. She also knew that talking to Draco was really healthy for Hermione. But most importantly, she knew that if Hermione knew that Draco liked her back, she would no longer deny her feelings.

But Ginny also knew that Hermione would need a little push to find out.

"Did you know Draco can speak French fluently? It's really cool! He is actually teaching because I know some basics but imagine if I could speak as fluent as Draco! I mean I have always hated that I never had the time to learn another language. But even if I had the time, I still couldn't because it's just not the same learning it from books instead from a fluent speaker" Hermione excitedly told Ginny.

Ginny knew that this would be the best way to breach the subject, "So Draco is teaching you French? That's pretty cool. You know that French is the language of love? Speaking of love, do you happen to have feelings for Draco Malfoy?"

Well that was the best way in her mind, just not the most subtle or tactful, but she had a weird feeling that Draco was going to try something soon and Hermione needed to realise her feelings before then.

"What Ginny? Are you sure you are feeling alright? Because you just asked me if I had feelings for Draco..."

Hermione wasn't sure why but Ginny's words seem to have struck something in her. Could it be...?

"I was only wondering Hermione" now Ginny had to slowly retreat, this way Hermione's mind would be interested.

"No, don't be silly Ginny" but even she could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

Was it true? Did she really like Draco?

Ginny put her next phase into motion, "I was thinking since you know, he has been so nice to you and has change much and he did get you that Muggle camera for your birthday, it's even better than Colin's and it would have been a lot of trouble to get..." she trailed off, letting Hermione add more in her mind

After a brief moment of silence, Ginny added on, "and I think he might have feelings for you too"

And with that, Ginny left before Hermione could argue, feeling pleased about her successful plan.

Hermione couldn't seem to enjoy herself at the birthday party that the Gryffindors had organised for her, her mind too preoccupied with her earlier conversation with Ginny.

Finally a time deemed acceptable to leave arrived, and Hermione grabbed the opportunity faster than Ron with his mother's food - or anyone's on another thought.

"No Gin, I'll come get my presents tomorrow, it would take too long to charm ALL of them. Goodnight, thanks again everyone"

Hermione left the Gryffindor Common Room with a sigh of relief and . She had gotten lots of presents but, as usual, almost all were books.

The only exceptions were Harry and Ron's combined present, a necklace with 'a glowing ball of light to help her in times of duress' - which Hermione found amusing- and Draco's, which she was carrying in her hand at the moment, filled with pictures from the night.

Hermione realised her thoughts circled, once again, back to Draco.

She couldn't help but feel excited as the possible truth of Ginny's words, but the more she thought about it, the more she was scared.

Her mind was racing through 'What if's'.

What if Harry and Ron hated her for it?

What if Ginny was wrong?

What if her feelings were unrequited?

Caught up with her thoughts, Hermione failed to realise that she had reached the portrait and entered the Common Room in an auto-pilot trance.

"You're back early Granger"

Hermione snapped out of her trance with Draco's words, failing to hear the nervous edge to Draco's voice.

"Yeah, you know me, I wanted to get an early night" Hermione turned to face Draco with a soft smile.

Draco got up from the couch he was seated on and slowly approached her.

"I hope you're not too tired because I kind of had another present for you" Draco said with a mask of confidence on his face.

Hermione started to ramble as Draco drew closer to her

"Oh you really didn't have to Draco. The camera is already one of the best presents and I love it, you really didn't have to get me another gift, it was-"

"Well it's a good thing I didn't" Draco cut into her ramble.

He slowly drew in and Hermione could smell the spice of his cologne. He could smell the soft vanilla with a mix of strawberry.

Her eyes drifted shut as Draco's lips brushed against hers and in the back of her mind she faintly registered that Ginny was right. But all sub-conscious thought was lost as Draco's lips began to move across hers and she brought her hand up to his neck as his went around her waist.

They broke apart and Draco whispered

"Happy Birthday Hermione"

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**THE END**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**So this is where I leave it, I wrote this years ago and stopped due to personal problems and now, my writing style has changed so much I cannot continue it, it just wouldn't work. I had so much planned for this story, it was originally 30 chapters and I am actually really upset that I never got to properly finish it. But I guess that sometimes happens in life and there is nothing we can do to change it :) **

**You never know! I might write a sequel with those plans I have already, it'd just be a very dramatic change in writing style, a lot better to be honest! :P**

**Thank you to everyone that has reviewed, I wish I had done more with this 3**


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